ESPers
ESPers are those who possess what is called "ESP," alternatively known as "Extra-Sensory Perception" or "Extra-Sensory Potential." The basic requirement for ESP is for someone to be capable of performing extraordinary feats without the aid of artificial enhancement but simply with the power of their minds. There are many variations of ESP in the known sentient population; specific races or genetic sequences can permit a range of capabilities including telepathy, telekinesis, electrokinesis, and pyrokinesis. A number of ESPers are independent agents. Some simply wish to live in peace as if they did not possess such capabilities. Others are drawn into organizations of ESPers that perform everything from mercenary services for the highest bidder to collective bargaining in providing service to a number of institutions. Some states draft all detected ESPers into government service, others persecute them, and yet others leave them alone. Religious institutions tend to either promote organizations for ESPers to live up to their religious creed or in some cases shun them. Finally, there are independent organizations of ESPers motivated more by ideals than money, who desire to make the universe a better place through application of their craft. Types of ESP There are various forms of ESP capability. Some, like Empathy and Telepathy, are fairly common; others like Electrokinesis and Precognition are significantly rarer. Empathy The ability to send or receive emotional feelings. Telepathy The ability to send or receive sensory information. (vision, hearing, touch, etc.) Telekinesis The ability to move or manipulate objects using the mind. Pyrokinesis The ability to create or control fire with the mind. Electrokinesis The ability to create and control electrical charges and current with the mind. Physical Augmentation Some ESPers train to use their mental abilities to improve their senses and physical capability. Agility, dexterity, strength, stamina, and the five normal senses are thus enhanced, turning an ESPer into an effective combatant, particularly in melee situations. Precognition The ability to acquire future information that cannot be deduced from presently available and normally acquired sense-based information. Magic The ability to do one or more of the above through the use of rituals and/or verbal commands, such as song. ESP-related Technologies ESP capabilities can be manipulated in various ways with certain technologies, most often to limit such capabilities. Altacar Null Field Null fields are energy fields that dampen ESP abilities. Null field generators come in all shapes and sizes, but more powerful ones are typically larger and bulkier. More powerful ESPers can also overwhelm weaker null fields. Their purpose is to provide a means of limiting the abilities of ESPers against particular individuals or in certain locations, without making ESP abilities useless (hence the ability to overwhelm null fields). The Altacar Empire is known to have a keen interest in null field technology (via the Institute for Neurological Research), and manufactures and sells a great variety of them. Chamarran White Noise Generator A white noise generator broadcasts psionic "white noise" on most documented telepathic frequencies; only psychers are sensitive to this "noise," and the effect has been variously described as "bloody unpleasant" or "like a fire alarm going off next to you." The effect makes using psionic powers in general more problematic due to the interference. The white noise generator also provides an easy way of detecting even inactive psychers in the area of effect, as few psychic individuals are so steeled that they can show no reaction when under its influence. The Nova Atlantean psi-jammer operates on a similar principle, though its mechanisms are quite different. ESPer Policies Among Nations and Races Altacar Empire The Altacar Empire is extremely tolerant towards ESPers and the like: only in matters of safety, privacy and national security are there limits - for example, the Royal Family and both Houses of Parliament are protected by "null field" technology which negates ESP abilities within the area of effect. The Centrality The Centralist government has been dominated by ESPers since the beginning, and thus are highly respected and feared by the citizenry. Potential ESPers are registered since birth, and are sent to special schools to develop their abilities. As they age they are sent to more specialized facilities to train for government service. After "graduation", ESPers are sent to a Center (analougous to a Department) which their training prepared them for. It goes without saying that the President has the right to choose his succesor from the ESPer population. Chamarran Hierarchy Lacking the psychic gene, Chamarrans are distrustful of psychers, keeping close tabs on the activities of those living in Hierarchy space. To restrict the travel options of psychers and to maintain government security, most checkpoints, sensitive areas, and noble houses are screened by psionic activity sensors, psychic white noise generators, or both. Misuse of psionic powers is dealt with harshly in Hierarchy space due to the risk of espionage. Holy Empire of Haruhi Suzumiya While ESPers are held in very high esteem within the Holy Empire of Haruhi Suzumiya, they are also very tightly regulated; all ESPers in the Holy Empire are drafted into some kind of government service (usually military, law enforcement, or espionage) and are subject to numerous restrictions on when and where they can use their abilities. Nova Atlantean Commonwealth of Worlds There are a few psionic individuals among the Commonwealth's population, and the military (in particular the Unconventional Warfare Corps) does make some use of psionics. Psionic individuals are kept under comparatively tight supervision; screening processes are carried out to identify psionic abilities among the population, and psions must receive mandatory implants to keep tabs on them and to inhibit their abilities should they be used to nefarious ends. To control psionics, devices known as psi-jammers are used, which emit pulses of psionic "noise" which disorient psionic invididuals in a similar manner to how a flashbang grenade would affect normal people. The population of the Commonwealth is in general not actively hostile to psionics, but they do beleive that psionics are ultimately an evolutionary dead end when compared to melding man and machine together. The process of full cyberization into posthumanity has the notable side effect of disabling all psionic abilities in the individual in question and making their thoughts garbled and hard to read by the psionically inclined (though they are still susceptible to the more physical manifestations of psionic abilities, such as telekinetics or electrokinesis). The Outlander Commissions ESPer treatment varies under Outlander laws, but they are generally tolerated with distrust and hostility. The Arayna, as a result of their exodus, possess a relatively limited genetic pool lacking in significant ESPer presence, and as such they are often openly hostile to foreign ESPers while extremely supportive of their own, who normally go on to serve in the Crescent Thought, a religious order. The Mechanicals evaluate each ESPer on their own merits and judge them accordingly - but any dishonest use of abilities is punished by death or lobotomy. The Mari, possessing a mild form of empathy as a basic species trait, do not consider many low-level ESPers to be abnormal but are hostile to those of high potency or prophetic bent. The Airaii despise all ESPers as 'witches', a policy that has lead to a great deal of conflict with the Mari, Angmarids, and Arayna - they themselves produce rare individuals capable of physical enhancement and mild telekinesis, the majority of whom are murdered while young. The Angmarids, finally, are in a distinctly unusual position - almost half of their 'E' sub-species possess some manner of extremely mild to moderately pronounced psionic ability, but are unable to manipulate any species removed from the Angmarid brain structure (with some extremely rare exceptions) - including the more wildly divergent 'D' sub-species. The Pfhor Empire ESPers in the Pfhor Empire are tightly regulated, with them being required to either swear fealty to the Imperial College of Esoterica, or attach themselves to one of several private, Imperially Chartered organizations. ESPers who do not attach themselves soon after the discovery of their abilities quickly find themselves on the run from the law, often being experimented on if they are caught alive. United Solarian Sovereignty Almost all psions in the Sovereignty can trace the origin of their abilities back to the CEID's human-Apexai hybridization project, and due to carefully controlled conditioning the first two generations of hybrids were almost exclusively in the service of that intelligence agency. With the advent of the third generation, however, psions have begun to filter into the general population. These psions are free to go and do as they please, but the Central Bureau of Investigation lets each of them know that the agency will unobtrusively keep track of their whereabouts and actions, and that misuse of their abilities will bring swift and unpleasant repercussions. The same is true for 'natural' psions or those who immigrate from other states: the CBI will monitor their activities and intervene if they misbehave. ESPer Organizations State Organizations *CEID (United Solarian Sovereignty) *Institute for Neurological Research (Altacar Empire) *Imperial College of Esoterica (Phfor Empire) *Goujia Moshushi (Tianguo) Religious Organizations Private Organizations Mercenary Groups and Orders Chivalric Orders *The Order of the Silver Moon Monastic Orders *The Crescent Thought List of Prominent ESP-capable Individuals *Dovan Aybeem (Founder of the Centrality and the Centralist Party) *Abielle Magritte (Director of CEID, United Solarian Sovereignty) *Mikoto Misaka (SOS Imperial Marine Corps officer, Holy Empire of Haruhi Suzumiya)